CID / NMRA Noblesville Show
The annual show of the Central Indiana Division / National Model Railroad Association is Sunday, January 25, 2015 in Noblesville, IN.

Plan to drop by the Exhibition Center at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM.

Admission is $3.00 per individual, $5 for families.

Dealers, operating layouts, displays, clinics, model judging, food, and more!

A flier about the event is found at this link: http://cid.railfan.net/2015_Noblesville_Flier.pdf

Santa brought me a Canon Eos Rebel DSLR with a 18-55mm lense and a 75-300mm telephoto lense. Good stuff by all accounts, especially if you know how to use it....I hope to be able to take some nice pictures of my layout now that I'm getting closer to the scenery stage.

There are some great photographers here and I am envious of the quality of close up shots on this forum...you guys know who you are...

Question to y'all....what kind of camera do you use for your MRR photos - point and shoot type, DSLR or what????

Also, what settings do you use for the extreme closeups...manual or do you leave it on the "flower' let the camera do the work.

Standard lenses vs wide angle macro?

I know nothing of land photography, I am from the Polaroid Land Camera era, so all info will shorten the learning curve....

Here is my first attempt using all auto modes...

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I have still no intention to change the layout but may be engines and rolling stock of an earlier area fit the buildings better.

After today's work session we took a stroll down towards bridge 60 to check out the new arrival in Scranton, the ARHS SW-1 that was just donated to us. She was originally an ACL unit built in 1939 that some how made it's way up to north east PA through several different owners. She has escaped the scrapper's torch and is in operating condition save for a few minor things that need attention. She will spend the rest of her days working as a switcher for Steamtown , not as part of the historic collection, but as a working unit doing the job that EMD built her to do.

   

Here are a few shots that most people don't get to see of the inside of the unit.    

The main cabinet is very simple as these units do not make transition and lack traction motor blowers. It is basically "On - Off" / "Forward - Reverse" with no MU.
   

   

   

How do ebay prices compare to swap meet prices these days on similar used items?

I was looking at old, used Mantua 4-4-0s on ebay - and was shocked to see them selling for 50 bucks or more. I could swear I saw them at a swap meet within the past 5 years running for 10-15 bucks. But if that is true, that would make no sense - why would anyone sell something at a swap meet for 5 times less than they could sell on Ebay? Or conceivably, could you find great deals at swap meets, turn around and sell on ebay and make a profit? People do that all the time with non-train items. But that is usually stuff people are selling at yard sales that they have no idea is worth money in a different market.

I don't do too much buying/selling on either ebay or swap meets - but for those of you who do - how do the prices compare? Just curious..

I am helping a friend with his first major layout - he's had a 2x6 switching and 4x8 continuous run previously. He has negotiated rights to a room all his own and we're kicking ideas around.

Locale: Ottawa Valley
Era: 1975-85
Type: Round the walls
Purpose: Operations and continuous run

Please let me know what you think of this:

   


Thanks!

Andrew

Grabbed a couple quick shots of Shore River switching some cars at the Mannheim Yard.

Bruce

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Hey guys,

I guess this might be a symptom of growing older (but I'm only 25!), but I feel like I'm to tired for this hobby sometimes. I work most of the day, but I feel so brain dead when I get home, that its almost embarrassing. A lot of the time, I won't even want to work on a model, not just because I'm tired, but because I know I don't have the mental coherence to build it without messing up somehow.

I also feel like I need to devote more time to the people around me, which is fine, but I feel that my layout and my modeling suffers. I find myself more and more relying on RTR equipment, and my stacks of kits and projects continue to grow, while I never really seem to finish anything.

It feels almost as if I've taken a step back. I was looking over my projects from a few years ago, and they were so cool! I was super detailing engines, weathering things, putting the details down, and a lot of my track was ballasted. Now I feel like half of what I do is just maintenance, almost the bare minimum. My layout looks terrible! I'm not sure I'm proud or happy with my modelling anymore. I just painted a few projects, and it felt nice to actually get somewhere!

That isn't to say that I want to get out of the hobby, but I just don't know how to get back into the swing of doing things with it. I suppose I feel somewhat paralyzed.

Any advice for getting back to it?

Hi all does anyone here model anything with overhead wires.
I'm kind of into the Chicago Southshore & southbend railroad and the post 1990 NICTD electric units that operate out to Michigan. Anyone else model this?
I know that Island models sell kits for the single and dual level units and it's easy to source GP38-2s and a 40. But does anyone know of any drawings of the NICTD sets built by Sharyo as I think I could 3d print one as the Island models kits are expensive especially as I'll need a few and the RCD sets needed to get motors and wheels. All begins to add up.
I like the idea of building a gauntlet track for a through station. Also there are chances to run small freights too with big orange geeps.
Am I mad to try this? The idea being some kind of end to end layout for exhibition purposes.

Does anyone know when the NICTD stopped using short trains as there are lots of photos from the 90s and early 2000s with 2 or 3 car trains but all the current day photos show trains of 5-6+ at minimum.

It's late here (explains the waffling) just curious as to what others model if anything similar.

Kind regards
Dave